It is normal practice to provide an under-fixture valve for connection between a water supply pipe within a wall structure and a fixture pipe leading up to the normal manually operable valve at the fixture. For example, in conventional sinks utilized in offices and homes there is provided a shut-off valve beneath the sink which will permit a person to close off the water supply to the normal valves on the sink so that new washers or other repairs may be made without having to shut off the main water supply.
In the original construction of bathrooms or laboratories where a sink might be used, it is common practice to provide a short pipe section which is connected to the main water supply pipe in the wall, the short section extending laterally from the wall. Finishing operations on the wall are then completed about the short pipe section such as lathing and plastering or insertion of tile. During this finishing operation, it is necessary to turn off the main water supply to prevent flooding of the area. After the wall has been finished, the plumber may then fix the normal under-fixture valve to the short pipe section and connect it up to the sink. After this operation, the plumber will go down to the main water supply valve and turn on the water supply.
The necessity for having to travel down to the main water supply and turn it on after the wall construction and connection of a fixture has been completed is a waste of the plumber's time. Moreover, in the case of multiple dwellings, there may be other plumbing pipes extending from wall structures wherein the wall construction itself has not been completed and inadvertent turning on of the main water supply may flood other areas. The latter problem can be overcome by simply threading a closure end to the extending pipe section from the wall so that the main water supply may remain on while the wall construction is being completed. In this way other areas in which construction has been completed are not inconvenienced by lack of water. On the other hand, after the one wall construction has been completed and it is desired to connect the normal under-fixture valve the plumber must still temporarily turn off the main water supply while these connections are being effected.
One solution to the foregoing inconveniences would be for the plumber simply to attach the under-fixture valve to the protruding pipe section of the wall and turn it to an off position so that the water supply may be left on while he is finishing the wall area or while a tile man is completing his work. However, this solution is not practical with present day under-fixture valves because of the relative bulkiness of these valves. Thus there are various lateral projections or enlarged portions of the valve which interfere with finishing of a wall, particularly in the placing of tile about the projecting pipe.
In my U.S. Pat. No. 3,760,836 issued Sept. 25, 1973 there is disclosed an improved under-fixture valve so designed as not to have any projecting portions extending beyond the diameter of the valve body itself, this diameter corresponding substantially to that of the water supply pipe protruding from the wall. By this arrangement, finishing operations can be carried out with a minimum of interference.
While the particular under-fixture valve described in my above referred-to U.S. patent solves the problem, the valve itself involves a plurality of components, particularly the valve member serving as a seat for a spherical valve head this member being formed of separable rubber gaskets. It would be desirable if an improved under-fixture valve could be provided similar to that described in my U.S. patent but which involves a lesser number of component parts thereby not only increasing reliability but reducing the expense of manufacturing the valve.